“BE
POWERFUL, BE HEARD – VOTE NEW JERSEY”NJ High School
and College Students Compete To Encourage
Young People to Vote in the Gubernatorial
ElectionHaddon
Heights High School Student To Appear on
Same Stage as Hip-Hop Artists as Part of
New Jersey’s “BE POWERFUL, BE
HEARD HIP-HOP SUMMIT II”

Jason
Simon-Bierenbaum, a student at Haddon
Heights High School, will be joined by
14 spoken word artists at the New Jersey
“BE POWERFUL, BE HEARD – VOTE
NEW JERSEY” Hip-Hop Summit II. The
Summit will be held at the Sovereign Bank
Arena in Trenton on Friday, September
30, 2005 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The
Summit will feature hip-hop entrepreneur
Russell Simmons, hip-hop artists, celebrities
and other advocates of voter education
and registration. The Summit is a panel
discussion, with music, about the importance
of voting and issues of concern to young
voters. According to the Hip-Hop Summit
Action Network (HSAN), Hip-Hop Summits
are held across this country but New Jersey’s
Summit remains the only one nationally
that is web cast live to school districts
across the state. The Summits are designed
to foster initiatives aimed at engaging
the Hip-Hop generation in community development
issues with special emphasis on voter
education and includes questions from
the audience.

The
15 Spoken Word artists will perform at
the beginning of the Hip-Hop Summit and
were selected from a field of youth between
the ages of 16 and 21 who participated
in competitions in Newark, Camden, and
Trenton in May. Each participant created
and presented a three-minute poem about
the importance of voting. Five winners
were selected from each competition. The
overall winner on September 30 will appear
on Black Entertainment Television’s
“Rap City,” and will have
the opportunity to audition for Russell
Simmons’ HBO series, “Def
Poetry Jam.” In addition, the winner
will participate in a Public Service Announcement
about the importance of voting, which
will air across New Jersey for the month
of October preceding the New Jersey gubernatorial
election.

New
Jersey is the first state to utilize the
popularity of hip-hop to motivate, encourage
and educate young people about the importance
of voting. The 2005 “BE POWERFUL,
BE HEARD – VOTE NEW JERSEY”
initiative began at Perth Amboy High School
in April.

New
Jersey Attorney General Peter C. Harvey
said, “Today’s young people,
like those participating in the Spoken
Word Competition, provide a youth perspective
on issues that affect them. Their contribution
is very important in shaping the message
and incorporating youth into voting.”